Assignment 4

Question 1

Micron

Answer 1

A micron is the measurement that is used to find the width of the smallest wire component that is on a computer chip. If the size between the wires on the chip decreases, then the number of transistors that can be on the chip increases.

Question 2

PROM

Answer 2

PROM stands for Programmable Read Only Memory. It is a chip where there is a fuse at the point where all the charges meet and it has a value of 1 at the start. A programmer/ developer uses a tool that is used to change the value to 0 by burning the fuse. The downside: it can only be programmed once.

Question 3

Clock Speed

Answer 3

The clock speed is the fastest rate at which a chip can be clocked at. It is normally measured in cycles/second. (Megahertz)

Question 4

Data Width

Answer 4

Data Width is the amount of information that can be sent to the Arithmetic Logic Unit at a time. The data width depends on the type of bit that the ALU is. For example, an 8-bit ALU is capable of doing basic mathematical calculations and a 32 bit ALU can alter 32-bit length numbers.

Question 5

EPROM

Answer 5

EPROM stands for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. It can be erased and reprogrammed as many times as the programmer wants to. This is made possible because of the way the chip was designed. Unlike the PROM, it was designed so that the two transistors that contain an oxide layer between them so that the transistors can be altered. The data on an EPROM can be changed using UV light. Some drawbacks to this include the fact that you have to erase all the data on the chip and if the chip is left in the UV light for too long, the chip can be damaged.

Question 6

Motherboard

Answer 6

The motherboard is the circuit board that has the majority of the electrical components the computer’s system unit. There are many small wires made of gold in the components are called “buses”. All of these parts are put together to form the CPU (Central Processing Unit).

Question 7

MIPS

Answer 7

MIPS stands for Millions of Instructions per Second. It is a cursory estimate of how well a CPU can perform at. Today’s computers are so fast that eMIPS ratings have little to no meaning at all.

Question 8

EEPROM

Answer 8

EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. There are some advantages of the EEPROM over the EPROM. Unlike the EPROM, parts of the chip can only change one byte at a time using an electric field and this can be both tedious and take a very long time

Question 9

Non-volatile

Answer 9

Non-volatile means that the data stored on a chip cannot be lost when the power is turned off. This normally refers to chips that have to retain information for long periods of time such as the ROM.

Question 10

Flash ROM

Answer 10

Flash ROM stands for Flash Read Only Memory. It uses “in circuit wiring” which is used to send electric signals to various sections of the chip. Theses sections are namely called blocks. THe Flash ROM is much faster than other ROM chips because its information/data is written and sent in large pieces. This shortens the time it takes to receive/send the data.